Shelbourne left it ridiculously late to snatch a hardly deserved winner, 2-1, against a resolute Sligo Rovers performance at Tolka Park this evening as sub Megan Smyth Lynch struck after Sligo’s Emma Hansberry saw two yellows in the last four minutes.

Shelbourne had dominated the possession and chances through the game but some excellent defensive work from the visitors and in particular a stellar debut performance from young keeper Amber Hardy had threatened to see them leave with a point from their mid week trip to Dublin.

Sligo Rovers came out of the traps very quickly. Good pressure on the Shelbourne defenders forced a poor pass and Jodie Loughrey jumped on it, carried the ball to the end line before her floated cross was only half cleared by Keeva Keenan.

Captain Emma Hansberry, who was approaching the penalty area, drilled her powerful effort from the edge of the box into the roof of Courtney Maguire’s net.

Shelbourne pilled on the pressure but wasteful finishing and some impressive interventions from debutant netminder Amber Hardy was enough to ensure the Northwesterners would enter the dressing room at the break with a single goal lead.

Shelbourne started the second half exactly as their visitors had started the first, when a fine thunderbolt from Canadian Christie Gray from the corner of the penalty area flew past Hardy to level matters and give the hosts the goal their industry deserved.

Shelbourne would continue to battle and create most of the goalscoring opportunities but again Hardy would prove vital to the Sligo defence. An Alex Kavanagh finish after a great cut back by Keenan would rebound off the the Mayo women and be cleared to safety.

A second yellow for Emma Hansberry late on will have taken some of the gloss of the performance for the visitors but the skipper can have little complaint about both of the challenges highlighted by the referee. Her disappointment evident as she made her way off the field, within 60 seconds the ball would find the back of the net.

Shel’s boss Noel King emptied the bench as he went in search of the winner and it would be one of those substitutions that bore fruit. Megan Smyth Lynch hitting a speculative cross towards goal. The ball seemed to stay in the air forever and Hardy in a rare mistake mis-read the flight of the ball and it crept into the top corner to put the 2022 league champions in the lead and give them a three points they didn’t really deserve.

While Steve Feeney might have accepted a point from a very inconvenient mid week trip to the capital when he left the North West this afternoon he’ll be reflecting on some opportunities missed by his side which could have secured another impressive result for their efforts.

On the positive side the exceptional performance of Hardy on her debut will provide stiff competition to Bonnie McKiernan for a goalkeeping position in which the Bit O’Red have struggled to find a consistent performer. Despite their exit from the FAI Cup there have been plenty of green shoots within recent weeks to give the side languishing near the bottom of the table confidence going into next season.